First, sit down, take a deep breath and sip some water. Yes, this is a new blog post. Relax. Now, down to business.I don't really believe myself to be all that remarkable. Sure, I have lots of talents, and I'm pretty bright. But when your social sphere consists primarily of talented, intelligent people, you are allowed to rest in the normalcy of what has been given to you. Most people I know are either really smart, really talented or both. So this is how it is possible that someone so many people see as exceptional can have so little faith in his abilities.
On Christmas day, in my 16th year, my parents gave me a gift. It's sitting in the next room, although much the worse for wear, and probably in it's last functional days. I shall never forget the words inscribed on it. Kimberly VIP 4. What I know now that I didn't know then, it that a Kimberly VIP 4 is a cheap, short scale Japanese knock off of a Gibson EB-2 Electric Bass. But none of that mattered. What mattered back then is is was a REAL bass guitar. And,it was mine. I didn't know how to hold it, or how to tune it. But on that very first day, I made music. Really terrible, un-amplified, music wrought with tempo fluctuations, but I made music. What I didn't know then, that I know now was that the notes I chose were the foundation of rock and roll, the Root, the 4th, and the 5th. I IV V. The legendary three chords, that when coupled with the "truth", made some of the most significant music of the later half of the 20th century.
I got pretty good at playing bass, growing past the Kimberly (for the time being)and beginning what would become a life long love affair with Fender. And, since the concept was essentially the same, being a good bassist brought being a fair guitarist along with it. But, I distinctly remember the next milestone, as it was also a Christmas. In college, it seemed pianos were everywhere, and I was fascinated by them. I plunked at them (how awful those first sounds must have been) sometimes bringing a guitar with me, to translate the chords I could finger on guitar to this wonderful new... "thing" I was playing with. Having already been a geek for sometime, my music director asked me to take home the group's Yamaha SY77 to learn how to edit patches and program sounds. To accomplish this, I sequenced out a crude, rudimentary orchestration of "Agnus Dei" by Micheal W. Smith. This frustrating process, that after a month resulted in two and one half minutes of actual music, gave me a quick and dirty crash course in sequencing, melody, harmony, note choice and note duration, that continues to inform my efforts to this day.
And, maybe you guessed it, two years later at Christmas time, I laid the final piece of the foundation. For two weeks, I borrowed a Tascam 8 Track Porta-Studio. It recorded, miraculously, 8 separate tracks to a standard cassette tape. And I used every spare second of those two weeks, to record all manner of of things, layered A Capella voices, multiple tracks of bass and guitar, and various sounds from a friend's Korg N365. Now, I had by no means arrived. Rather, I was now a complete seed. And I spent the next few years germinating. Sometimes I tended the seed. Other times, I tended to other artistic expressions. But they all seemed to inform each other.
So, what's my point? My point is, I had been waiting all this time for "it" to happen. Then, I finally made peace that "it" never would. And yet, the desire was still there. And I took an inventory. And all of the pieces are there, as good as I will probably ever get them. I have a couple good guitars. I have a couple good basses. I have a couple good mics. I have Garageband on the Mac, and I have Cubase on the PC. And, I have songs, although I am too close to know for sure that they are "good" songs. I think the time has past to make a "real" record at a "real" studio. And yet, I believe I must do this thing. Not to make a definitive "statement", because there are people a lot better than me at everything I do, but rather, to enter into the conversation.
So, because I have a toddler and I am still somewhat sane, I am giving myself one year. And in one year (or less if all goes well) I will have in my hands, my record. It won't be perfect, I don't have the time or the tools (or perhaps the talent) for perfect. At this point, I don't know if I will be alone, or invite others in. I am no drummer, so there will be loops and samples which may sound cheesy. But, I will have it. And, since I have no desire any longer to be a rockstar, or leave my family for tours, or be subject to the self serving contracts of record labels, I suppose when I have it, I will simply give it away. That's my resolution for 2009. God help me, the clock starts.... now.
------
And that's enough for now.
Brian Norwood
Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal
